Visible Light Assisted Gasochromic Sensing of Nicotine from Cigarette Smoke by Metal-Organic Nanotube
Nicotine, being a major constituent of Second Hand Smoke (SHS) or Cigarette smoke, is quite harmful for human
health because of its carcinogenic potential. Hence, its detection in air
becomes very significant. Herein, for the first time, a Metal Organic Nanotube
(MONT) is being used for detection of nicotine from cigarette smoke at room
temperature. MONT is a unique class of Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) where independent one-dimensional
tubular structures are formed. MONT, [Zn3(btc)2(µ3-OH)(DMF)].H2O (1), reported here, possesses distinctive structural features i.e.
three differently shaped porous channels (circular, star and oval), formed by
periodic linkage of btc with Zn, giving
rise to the formation of highly porous framework structure. When exposed to
cigarette smoke in the presence of sunlight, this MONT display gasochromic
effect i.e. significant color change from light yellow to dark pink in just 20 seconds. A high sensitivity with low
detection limit of ~23.3 μM was witnessed. The significance of this work
lies in the visible light assisted, fast, easy, naked eye specific sensing of nicotine from cigarette smoke, which
is first of its kind.

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